Lockout and tag-out is a safety process maintenance personnel are required to follow to ensure electrical maintenance safety. A number of procedures outlined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are designed to prevent an unexpected startup of electrical machinery or equipment during maintenance and repairs. One such safety regulation requires access to circuit breakers and panelboards be controlled by electricians working on circuitry or equipment. Currently this is accomplished by a number of different methods. For example, locks are provided on de-energized or turned off circuit breakers or de-energized circuit breakers are tagged and then access to panelboards is controlled by simply locking panelboards or doors to electrical closets, rooms or areas where panelboards are located.
However, all of these methods present a number of challenges. To begin with, the use of breaker locks, which are usually supplied by a third party, requires that such locks be built specifically for the breakers being locked. Because of the extremely numerous breaker designs that have been employed in facilities over the years, it is often not feasible to have a stock of the vast variety of breaker lockouts on hand, especially in any amount.
As the design of the circuit breakers change, a portion of these circuit breakers become obsolete. Also, new or unknown lockout requirement arise. Whether faced with obsolescence or new or unknown lockout requirements, procuring a specific breaker lockout will still be required, which often takes a significant amount of time even if the needed lock is available at all. Furthermore, the breaker lock-outs are often costly and not very durable.
Although the panelboards are typically provided with a locking handle or a latch, the same key is often supplied by each manufacturer for their particular line of panelboards. In a large commercial building setting in which hundreds of panels are located, hundreds of sets of identical keys may be available to a host of individuals, thereby making controlling of the access to the panelboards very difficult. Also, because each panelboard typically comes with only a single keyed latch, the use of a multiple user lockout or tag-out hasps, such as those required in crew or multi-discipline scenarios, is not possible. While controlling access to electrical closets, rooms or areas with panelboards is yet another option for limiting access to a panelboard, such control is becoming more of an issue as building management or security personnel are becoming more reluctant to relinquish keys in today's heightened security environment. Also, ensuring that all personnel follow instituted procedures for locking out these areas is often difficult.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a device for, and a method of, locking panelboards easily and securely to ensure compliance with safety regulations.